Photoshop Tutorial-Define pattern and then make a brick wall

You can define a pattern for just about anything in PS, sometimes they need to step and repeat and because of that, we will be using our grid which we will need to adjust in the preferences. So go to Edit>Preferences and choose Guides, Grids, Slices & Count. Viewing the image below, change the highlighted area to the same settings – Gridline every 1 inch – subdivisions 11.

Now, go and create a new file 800 x 600 72dpi. Go to Image>Image Size and make sure the Document Size is set to inches.

Create a new blank layer above the background layer by clicking on the create new layer icon at the bottom of the layers palette, then go to the top menu bar and select
View>Show>Grid and then zoom on the image to 200%.

With your rectangular marquee tool selected go and make a selection similar to the one if the image below 11 squares across and 5 down. Choose a colour for the bricks and making sure it is the f/ground colour, press Alt + Backspace or go to Edit> Fill and choose Foreground.

With the selection tool selected, and holding down your Ctrl + Alt keys drag the brick you made and place it as in the image below. You can also use Edit>Copy – Edit>Paste if you like.

Then I want you to repeat that process again, and place the third brick the same as in the image below.

The gap between the two top bricks is for the grout, we’re going to create the grout to the left side and below when we select the area to ‘Define Pattern’. So lets do that now. With your rectangular marquee tool I want you to select the area of the image that I have highlighted below.

Go to View>Show and click on grid to deselect it. Next, I want you to click on the little eye icon next to the background layer so that the pattern has a transparent backgound. Next, go to Edit>Define Pattern and give the pattern a name – use something like bricks

Next go to Select>Deselect and then delete all layers except the background layer. click on the ‘create new layer’ icon at the bottom of the layers palette and go to Edit>Fill and choose pattern from the drop down menu, scroll down because your new pattern should be at the bottom. Hover your cursor over the top and it will show the name of the pattern Press OK and you should end up with something similar to below.

Now we’re going to change the background colour to something that more resembles grout. Make sure you are working on the background layer by clicking on it and then go and select a colour for the grout. I used R255 G204 B153. Making sure that that it is the foreground colour press Alt + backspace on your keyboard, alternatively you can go to Edit>Fill and choose foregound.

Our next job is to add some noise to the background layer. go to Filter>Noise>Add Noise and uncheck the Monochromatic box, because in this instance we do want to add a little colour to the noise. You can punch in the same figures as in the image below if you like, or choose some to suit yourself.

Now we need to make the little brown rectangles look like bricks. Working on the bricks layer (the one you filled with the pattern) click on the FX icon at the bottom of the layers palette, or go to Layer>Layer Style and choose bevel and emboss. You can punch in the same settings as I have in the image below, or choose to suit.

Next we’re going to use the texturizer to give the bricks some texture. You can use the numbers that I used in the image below.

The image looks uniform, so what you can do at this point is just your dodge and burn tools to randomly darkeN and lighten the bricks. Set your burn tool to shadows and use about 20% opacity, use a soft edged brush and randomly burn some bricks. Set your dodge tool to shadows and with a soft edged brush and the opacity set to around 20%, randomly highlight the bricks. You can change the opacity on both the burn and dodge process to build up the effect. Another thing you can do, is create a new layer and with a small brush set to black draw some cracks in the bricks. Take the opacity down on the layer if you want as well. One more thing you could do is to grab the eraser tool and gently take away some of the brick edges (use a size 2 brush on this size image) so that the whole wall isn’t so uniform.

I haven’t done much dodging & burning on the completed image, that’s your job to go and finish it off to suit your needs

Click on the image below to go to the larger version.

Lots more you could do to this if you wanted, just use your imagination

So we’ve learned how to define a pattern and put it to some use in the real world. If there is something that you don’t understand, or that I have failed to explain properly, just ask.

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Former Freehand Freelance Graphic Illustrator...
been online since 2004 ( late starter ), blogging since 2005, presently writing a suspense-thriller e-book that began as a screenplay.
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